Scottsdale’s Museum of the West to host ‘Cowboy Artists of America’

Valley residents and visitors on Saturday, Nov. 7 will have a rare opportunity to meet and mingle with Cowboy Artists of America members attending the opening day of CAA’s 50th anniversary exhibition at Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West.

To celebrate the anniversary and the CAA artists’ contributions to fine art and Western culture, the museum is presenting “A Salute to Cowboy Artists of America and a Patron, the Late Eddie Basha: 50 Years of Amazing Contributions to the American West.”

The exhibition opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7 and will remain on view through May 31, according to a press release.

Sixteen CAA artists will sign the commemorative book “The Sons of Charlie Russell: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Cowboy Artists of America” by author B. Byron Price during a 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. autograph party.

The book is available for $95 in the museum store. Attendees may bring their copies of the book to the autograph party.

The book profiles each of the 77 artists who has ever been a member of CAA. It also details the formation of CAA in 1965 by four prominent Arizona artists who shared a fervent desire to authentically preserve and perpetuate the culture of Western life in fine art.

Since CAA’s founding by Joe Beeler, George Phippen, Charlie Dye and John Hampton, the organization’s members have become recognized as the leaders in the field of Western representational art. Their artworks are highly sought after by Western art collectors, the release stated.

The 50th anniversary exhibition includes loaned works from CAA artists and private and public collections, including The Eddie Basha Collection. The well-known Arizona grocer and community leader was a passionate art collector who took as much joy in getting to know the artists as in acquiring their artworks. His legacy includes the largest privately owned collection of contemporary Western American and American Indian art in the country.

The CAA exhibition and artist demonstrations are free with museum admission, which is $13 for adults; $11 for seniors (65+) and active military; $8, students (with ID) and children ages 6-17; and free to museum members and children under 5. Museum admission is not required for those participating in the book signing only.

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West celebrates the art, history, and unique stories of the 19 states comprising the American West. The museum, which opened in January 2015, is owned by the City of Scottsdale and managed by Scottsdale Museum of the West, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that relies on private support to fund the museum’s operation.

Scottsdale’s Museum of the West is located in Scottsdale’s historic arts district at 3830 N. Marshall Way.

Related

Newsletter

Subscribe to the Scottsdale Independent email newsletter

Comments

You are encouraged to leave relevant comments but engaging in personal attacks, threats, online bullying or commercial spam will not be allowed. All comments should remain within the bounds of fair play and civility. (You can disagree with others courteously, without being disagreeable.) Feel free to express yourself but keep an open mind toward finding value in what others say. To report abuse or spam, click the X in the upper right corner of the comment box.

advertisement

Click the front page to read the entire latest issue of the print edition.